Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

[guitarest]

Well, I printed my luggage tags and Boarding Pass for my upcoming cruise and I'm doing the "doc-dance" - Remember when they used to send your cruise documents in those wonderful pouches. HAL had the prettiest ones, people used to use them as clutch bags.

 

I can't wait to be standing on deck when we sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. I have to get up very early......but, it's so worth it.

 

Who else has an upcoming cruise?

 

 

Have fun..... I just got a letter from the VA stating my case so soon be resolved and hopefully I will be able to go on that cruise since joining this website to get info on cruises. OH boy I better be careful Blitz is liable to jump off the boat to go swimming.

 

For all of you cruisers, do they allow our service animals to cool off in the pools or is our only official places the shower/bathtub in the room?

Edited July 12, 2011 by guitarest

[wizard-of-roz]

Have fun..... I just got a letter from the VA stating my case so soon be resolved and hopefully I will be able to go on that cruise since joining this website to get info on cruises. OH boy I better be careful Blitz is liable to jump off the boat to go swimming.

 

For all of you cruisers, do they allow our service animals to cool off in the pools or is our only official places the shower/bathtub in the room?

 

Brenda LOVES the water, whether it be the ocean or a pool. I was very afraid that she'd want to take a leap from the ship into the ocean. Our dogs are way smarter than that. She peaked her head over the side and saw what a drop it was from the ship to the water and stayed back from the edges as we walked the Promenade Deck.

I suppose if your dog were used to assisting you in the pool, you could bring it in. It just seems that it would be unfair to expect a public venue to have to clean an entire pool of water because you allowed your dog in. It just makes good sense and in all fairness to the general public that you might keep your dog out, just because of the hair situation.

I don't think there are laws to prevent our dogs from going in, it just doesn't seem to be a necessity; more like fun for you and the dog but not much fun for the folks who have to swim with a dog that they don't much care for. And, we do run into some of those folks onboard......not too many....thank goodness!!!

You can use a spray bottle and spray your dog off but I have to warn you.....some of the tiles, decking and flooring around the pool area can get very, very hot and you have to be careful when walking your dog on it. I learned this, the hard way - And, so did Brenny!

[wizard-of-roz]

Any feeling he gets back is a blessing. We are thrilled. He was bummed out when he woke up from the surgery and there was no change. We knew going in that it might not work, but he had to do it to save what he had left. Today he had Wex jump on the bed again. This morning when they got him up in his chair (for the first time) Wex ran over to him, John said "lap" and they were back together again. The kisses were flowing. It was awesome. I was all choked up. We also found out today that the sore mouth and throat is not from the breathing tube but from something called THRUSH. I never heard about it before, but I'm sure you have. For anyone else who doesn't know, it's some kind of yeast infection in your mouth and throat caused by antibiotics. Right Sunshine? So they are treating him for that now and on Wednesday an Eye, Nose, and Throat guy is going to check him out. Tomorrow they will mix barium with food and take xrays. YUCK!!! He ate some today, the most he's eaten so far. Maybe cuz the doctor told him they would have to put some nail like needle in his arm to feed him. :eek: It's to bad that he got this infection cuz his neck feels great, now he will be in rehab longer. :(

 

Cindy

 

Cindy, our grandson had thrush when he was a baby and he couldn't suck his bottle or his thumb, he was so miserable. He had sores on his tongue and inside his mouth. Poor John, he's got enough to worry about, he didn't need this too.

I'm so glad you both have Wexy to give you comfort and love.

I'm sending my love and Brenda's amazing vibes to you all. Please tell John to stay strong, we're all thinking of him and wishing him well!!!!!

[cjborne2]

I have heard of thrush in babies but never in adults. I too was happy to hear that feeling is coming back. I can also relate to the disappointment of not having immediate results.

 

Ollie is at the vet now :( My wallet is $1200 lighter. That was a deposit for the internal medicine side of things. The surgeon (and it's not certain he will even have surgery) wanted to run the credit card for the low estimate today too ($2200) but we chose option B: give them authorization to run the card IF surgery is necessary. We know will owe another 1200ish for the balance of the testing. Hopefully he can come home tomorrow. He has such bad anxiety when not with us. My husband's boss has been understanding and let him work from home late this afternoon to finish out the work day today (after I had to pick them up from work) and tomorrow to make things easier on me.

 

That's all for now. I'll keep you posted on Ollie's progress. In the meantime, I'm going to deal with the other money sucking issues (house repairs) for the rest of the evening.

[wizard-of-roz]

I have heard of thrush in babies but never in adults. I too was happy to hear that feeling is coming back. I can also relate to the disappointment of not having immediate results.

 

Ollie is at the vet now :( My wallet is $1200 lighter. That was a deposit for the internal medicine side of things. The surgeon (and it's not certain he will even have surgery) wanted to run the credit card for the low estimate today too ($2200) but we chose option B: give them authorization to run the card IF surgery is necessary. We know will owe another 1200ish for the balance of the testing. Hopefully he can come home tomorrow. He has such bad anxiety when not with us. My husband's boss has been understanding and let him work from home late this afternoon to finish out the work day today (after I had to pick them up from work) and tomorrow to make things easier on me.

 

That's all for now. I'll keep you posted on Ollie's progress. In the meantime, I'm going to deal with the other money sucking issues (house repairs) for the rest of the evening.

 

"Money sucking" ....... such a good way to put it [or not!] I hope Ollie will be okay.....you must be so worried! Poor guy, he must be so scared.

Brenda is a whining, qivering mass of jello at the Vet's office. She becomes a hyper, visibly shaken mess. She actually starts talking to me. I'm sure she's saying something. She's verbalizing sounds like she's trying so hard to say, "get me out of here, now!!!!" It's not funny but it is!!!!!! I actually take off her working vest so she doesn't embarrass CCI - And, so that strangers won't think that all CCI dogs are like this. Poor thing.....

I'm so sorry that you have to go through this expense but I'm so glad that you're not hesitating to take care of our Ollie. You're a considerate, responsible owner and I'm so proud of you.....Now, doesn't that help that "sucking sound" a bit?

Edited July 12, 2011 by wizard-of-roz

[cjborne2]

My son needed surgery when he was little and we paid some out of pocket for that. My daughter has had braces so we fixed her teeth. Ollie is just another "kid" that we need to take care of. As I'm sure you can all relate, he's different than just being a pet. The money will be missed but it's something that needs to be done.

 

The house repairs, some planned, some not, are draining the pocketbook too. The stuff going on tomorrow is "cleaning up" what the contractor didn't do so great back in June. It's just been one thing after the other lately. We've been lucky though. We've been in this house 12 years and we have had very few "major" repairs since we've lived here.

 

The internal medicine vet did call this evening and said the chest xray was clear so that's good. At least whatever might be going on didn't spread that far. We'll know more in the morning. Poor pup. It's so quiet without him home tonight.

[Quampapetet]

Congrats on your interview going well! Thanks for all the details!

 

Becca and Sarah practiced commands with me [pretending they were a dog; and, I would correct them and tell them "yes, good job", or "no, don't" when they would not sit or not lay down.]

I know that's typical, and the guide programs have a special name for a person acting like a guide dog with the harness, but I just pictured your two women sitting and laying down on command in my head while reading this and came up with quite the funny picture!! :p

 

Sarah left the room and came back with one of the most beautiful Yellow Labs I have ever seen. He was one year old with a very course flat coat. He had the biggest paws and ears I have ever seen on a Lab. His name was "Hyde", what a beautiful pup.

 

I've already learned, 9 years ago, that the dog you practice with doesn't necessarily look anything like the dog you will finally wind-up with. But, I sure loved everything about Hyde.

Aww, sounds like you are going to do just fine with a new dog! I hope you end up with Hyde or one a lot like him!

 

After this part of the process, while waiting for Brenda, I waited another 14 months before I was invited to "Team Training" and I received her. God, I hope it's not that long this time!!!!!

Yup, definitely sounds like you're ready for your next pooch! :)

[Quampapetet]

In other news, the biopsy was not great. The cyst came back malignant. We need to take him for a colonoscopy soon. Hopefully we caught it early. He had just gone to the vet in April before the Mexico trip so it was only 8 weeks or so since his last visit to the vet and nothing was there at that time. My husband has been in touch with the Seeing Eye about this since no doubt this has the potential to be expensive. We already spent close to 800 for the last visit/surgery and the consultation with the specialist alone is close to 200.

 

 

So sorry to hear that. I hope all goes well and they get it all!!!

[Quampapetet]

This is going to seem like an odd post to you, but I'm asking anyway! I have a certified therapy rabbit. Yes, I do. He goes everywhere with me, but I have yet to take him on a cruise. We're booked for next winter, and I emailed Carnival to inquire about what I would need to board with him. I don't know if they'll let me bring him or not, so I'm holding my breath and waiting for an answer. Does anyone possibly have any experience cruising with a service animal that isn't a dog? He is so easy to take with me, he's litter trained, doesn't bark (heehee), and he sleeps in a pack-n-play playpen that I bring with me. He has a harness and leash, and follows commands well. Thanks for any advice you have!

 

No, your rabbit is not allowed on board a cruise ship or in any other public place where pets are not allowed.

 

First of all, therapy animals are not service animals. Therapy animals are no different than pets, even if owned by a disabled person (just like a pet cannot be brought into public just because a disabled person owns it). Therapy animals are not allowed on cruises or in any other no-pets places unless they are invited by the place at that moment in time. Neither are emotional support animals, which I'm guessing you might be trying to say your rabbit is, not a therapy animal. (A therapy animal brings joy to ppl in hospitals and such; an emotional support animal is the pet of someone with mental disabilities.)

 

Secondly, service animals can only be dogs, no other animals, under the ADA (the U.S. law). Miniature horses trained in service tasks also have access* under most situations (but is on a case-by-case basis). In order for a dog to be a service dog, they must be trained to do something that helps their person's disability (that something must be directly related to the disability) and they also must be public access trained. Dogs just for emotional support, their presence, comfort, etc. are not service dogs under the law.

 

*(Note that it is the DISABLED PERSON who has access, NOT the animal itself. It just is easier to write "have access" a lot of times to make reading easier on everyone.)

[Quampapetet]

When Brenda came home she almost gave Harvey a heart attack. She just wanted to "cuddle" with him. He wanted nothing to do with her.

LOL! Poor bunny!

 

 

The answer to public access for your rabbit is a resounding "no!" He/she is your therapy rabbit and does not have "Public Access" under the DOJ - ADA Guidelines.

True.

 

I know how much he means to you but he does not mitigate a physical disability for you. If he were taught to "alert" you when you were going to have a seizure or your blood pressure went very low or high or he "alerted" you to sounds in your environment, that would be a different story.

Not true. First, service animals can be trained to do things for people with mental disabilities, not just physical disabilities, although there is definitely much abuse of that part of the law going on - many ppl don't train their dog to do anything that is directly related to their disability, just use them as emotional support animals. Emotional support animals are not service animals, as a service animal must be trained to do something. Providing comfort, being petted, being leash-trained, the person looking at the dog, etc. doesn't cut it.

Second, even if the rabbit was task-trained, it still would not be a service animal, as only dogs can be service animals now. (Task-trained mini horses can also be allowed in public on a case-by-case basis.)

This rabbit is NOT allowed to be brought along anywhere pet rabbits aren't allowed unless a business allows them. Restaurants are out of the question due to health regulations not permitting animals inside.

 

And, the public arena could ask to see what your rabbit does to mitigate your physical issues. They may not ask what's wrong with you but they may ask to see what your rabbit does.

 

While a business can ask anything they want of the poster, since their rabbit is not a service animal so they're not covered under any law, a business can NOT ask to SEE a service dog's task. They can only ask WHAT tasks the dog has been trained to do, which the person answers verbally, not with show-and-tell. They can't ask what your disability is, of course. They can also ask if the dog is a service dog required because of your disability.

[Quampapetet]

Well........I got it......the letter from CCI that states: After reviewing your application materials and information from your interview, we would like to extend to you an invitation to be placed on our waiting list to attend one of our future Team Training classes for a Hearing Dog - Congratulations!!!!!!

 

 

 

Congrats!!! I hope your new pooch comes soon!

[Quampapetet]

Just an update, Johns surgery went well, he is still in recovery as of 8:30pm because of blood pressure problems during the operation. Wex and I have been hanging around at the hospital since 8:30am, so we are pooped!!! When John had his original surgery 30 something years ago, they fused his spine together, and I guess once the bone grows it doesn't stop, so he had a huge hunk of bone in his throat(never bothered him) so the cut it off. Then they replaced a bulging disc. Instead of fusing the bone like before, they put in a fake disc!!:eek: This doctor is the only one in this area that does it, and this will let John have movement in his neck, instead of fusing which would give no movement. I'll update tomorrow.

 

Cindy

 

So glad to hear it went well! I guess it is a good thing you didn't do the second opinion, then, since you got the only doc who does the prosthetic disc! Sounds good.

[Quampapetet]

For all of you cruisers, do they allow our service animals to cool off in the pools or is our only official places the shower/bathtub in the room?

 

No, the dogs are not allowed in the pool due to health regulations. If your dog ends up in the pool, they have to close the pool, drain it, and then refill it ... and every passenger on board will hate you, LOL! :p

 

Also, it is not a good idea to put your dog in the ship's showers, as the drainage systems on ships are very, very sensitive. You do NOT want them to get backed up (can you say sewage coming into your cabin along with a putrid smell?!?!). Tubs are usually only found in expensive suites. If you need a fully-accessible cabin, you will have a roll-in shower.

Edited July 13, 2011 by Quampapetet

[Quampapetet]

I don't think there are laws to prevent our dogs from going in, it just doesn't seem to be a necessity; more like fun for you and the dog but not much fun for the folks who have to swim with a dog that they don't much care for.

 

The health regulations prevent service dogs from going in public pools. A dog in the pool would be a change in the nature of the business and affect people's health, so the ADA does not apply to pools. Service dogs are, of course, allowed on the pool decks with their person, just not in the pools themselves.

[Quampapetet]

My son needed surgery when he was little and we paid some out of pocket for that. My daughter has had braces so we fixed her teeth. Ollie is just another "kid" that we need to take care of. As I'm sure you can all relate, he's different than just being a pet. The money will be missed but it's something that needs to be done.

 

That reminds me of that TV commercial for a new brand of dog treats. The lady talks about her dog like he's her kid, saying stuff like, "All my kids were early readers," and stuff - really cute! :)

 

The internal medicine vet did call this evening and said the chest xray was clear so that's good. At least whatever might be going on didn't spread that far. We'll know more in the morning. Poor pup. It's so quiet without him home tonight.

 

Congrats on the great news!!

[guitarest]

"Money sucking" ....... such a good way to put it [or not!] I hope Ollie will be okay.....you must be so worried! Poor guy, he must be so scared.

 

Brenda is a whining, qivering mass of jello at the Vet's office. She becomes a hyper, visibly shaken mess. She actually starts talking to me. I'm sure she's saying something. She's verbalizing sounds like she's trying so hard to say, "get me out of here, now!!!!" It's not funny but it is!!!!!! I actually take off her working vest so she doesn't embarrass CCI - And, so that strangers won't think that all CCI dogs are like this. Poor thing.....

 

I'm so sorry that you have to go through this expense but I'm so glad that you're not hesitating to take care of our Ollie. You're a considerate, responsible owner and I'm so proud of you.....Now, doesn't that help that "sucking sound" a bit?

 

Blitz loves going to the Vet, they taught him a bad trick. The young lady behind the counter taught him to prop himself on the counter where he is almost as tall as I am to get a treat. Its taken a while to break him of it; although I do allow him to do it at the vet. Willie, my daughters first dog; gets into the Mustang and knows he is going some where. He is usually very excited then the shakes start and by the time we get to the vet he looks like I do in 50 degree weather. Once inside Willie is OK its something about the trip or not knowing maybe? He was a Katrina rescue; although he was 3 months old (estimated) when we adopted him and he has been with me since then. So I feel your pain when a normal pup turns into ahuge chicken.

[guitarest]

The health regulations prevent service dogs from going in public pools. A dog in the pool would be a change in the nature of the business and affect people's health, so the ADA does not apply to pools. Service dogs are, of course, allowed on the pool decks with their person, just not in the pools themselves.

 

Thank you...

[wizard-of-roz]

My son needed surgery when he was little and we paid some out of pocket for that. My daughter has had braces so we fixed her teeth. Ollie is just another "kid" that we need to take care of. As I'm sure you can all relate, he's different than just being a pet. The money will be missed but it's something that needs to be done.

 

The house repairs, some planned, some not, are draining the pocketbook too. The stuff going on tomorrow is "cleaning up" what the contractor didn't do so great back in June. It's just been one thing after the other lately. We've been lucky though. We've been in this house 12 years and we have had very few "major" repairs since we've lived here.

 

The internal medicine vet did call this evening and said the chest xray was clear so that's good. At least whatever might be going on didn't spread that far. We'll know more in the morning. Poor pup. It's so quiet without him home tonight.

 

Ollie: Brenny and I are sending our love and dog dishes for you to get well and come home to your people......You are thought about every day and know that you are not alone.....we're all there with you big boy!!!!!!!!

[cjborne2]

The colonoscopy and sonogram also came back clear so that's good. He was in surgery now to remove some more tissue around where the cyst was removed. He's not out of the woods yet, but things are so far so good.

 

Thank you for your kind words. Made me tear up.

 

I've been impressed with this office. The internal med doctor has personally called 4 times with updates and my husband spoke with the surgeon earlier.

 

My husband's boss has been great too. She was going to check with the "big boss" to see if he could continue to telework until Ollie was better. He could go to the office with the cane and leave me home with the dog so either way it's not a big deal, but I think it's nice they are being considerate. It would make things easier for me and shuttling the kids around if he could be home though.

[wizard-of-roz]

The colonoscopy and sonogram also came back clear so that's good. He was in surgery now to remove some more tissue around where the cyst was removed. He's not out of the woods yet, but things are so far so good.

 

Thank you for your kind words. Made me tear up.

 

I've been impressed with this office. The internal med doctor has personally called 4 times with updates and my husband spoke with the surgeon earlier.

 

My husband's boss has been great too. She was going to check with the "big boss" to see if he could continue to telework until Ollie was better. He could go to the office with the cane and leave me home with the dog so either way it's not a big deal, but I think it's nice they are being considerate. It would make things easier for me and shuttling the kids around if he could be home though.

 

YOU are carrying such a huge load and my heart goes out to you.

We all tend to forget the stress and struggle for you folks who walk or wheel beside us [Cindy, Peter, Disney, Morey]. Can we ever thank you enough for your "stand-by your man, woman or child" attitudes. Then, we bring a dog into the mix and ask that you love and give of yourselves to them too........it's an amazing thing to watch......this devotion, love and giving of one's self. It's a miracle to see and an even bigger one to live with.

So far, so good for our boy. I know you're so busy but please keep us in the loop for his prognosis.

Edited July 13, 2011 by wizard-of-roz

[rangeley]

I have heard of thrush in babies but never in adults. I too was happy to hear that feeling is coming back. I can also relate to the disappointment of not having immediate results.

 

Ollie is at the vet now :( My wallet is $1200 lighter. That was a deposit for the internal medicine side of things. The surgeon (and it's not certain he will even have surgery) wanted to run the credit card for the low estimate today too ($2200) but we chose option B: give them authorization to run the card IF surgery is necessary. We know will owe another 1200ish for the balance of the testing. Hopefully he can come home tomorrow. He has such bad anxiety when not with us. My husband's boss has been understanding and let him work from home late this afternoon to finish out the work day today (after I had to pick them up from work) and tomorrow to make things easier on me.

 

That's all for now. I'll keep you posted on Ollie's progress. In the meantime, I'm going to deal with the other money sucking issues (house repairs) for the rest of the evening.

 

 

Wow vet bills are just going through the roof. They know people will do almost anything to keep their pet healthy. Hope Ollie will be home soon in the comfort of his family!! I'll keep praying for him.

 

Cindy

[rangeley]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEXLER!!!!!!!!! Wex is 4 today so this morning him and I went on a shopping spree at Petco.

 

John is finally alittle bit better today. The meds they gave him for the thrush were swish and spit, well come to find out, it was suppose to be swish and swallow :mad: That just put him back a few days. The Eye and Throat doctor came in and scoped his throat today. The thrush is all the way down the throat so all this time no meds were getting to it. He still cannot eat much. For dinner he had a cup of custard. They want him to drink thickened water :eek: GAG!!! So he is not drinking anything. Today they let him have some ice chips and a spoonful of water, wow thats really going to hydrate him. Yesterday he sent me home cuz he was so miserable, today he was awesome. They gave him a shower which was a big help and now that the meds are finally getting in there he is improving. :D If he didn't have the thrush he would have been eating and getting strength to work out and come home. Now I have no idea how long he will be there cuz we are like a week behind. Well it's 830 and my dinner just came, and I'm starving. Talk soon.

 

Cindy & Wex

[guitarest]

 

The internal medicine vet did call this evening and said the chest xray was clear so that's good. At least whatever might be going on didn't spread that far. We'll know more in the morning. Poor pup. It's so quiet without him home tonight.

 

 

I so feel your pain; often many feel its just a dog. Many people especially in my area believe a dog should be kept outside and have no rights. Many people do not understand the wonders of having a dog as a family member; I didn't say owning a dog. It is my belief that that the loss of a family member be it two or four legged is a great pain. When our pets are sick hopefully they have given enough warning that the marvel of medical science can repair what ills them. I hope and pray your pup gets better; my own pain was with King. While not a service dog he was trained as a K9 by myself and was very busy after Katrina.

 

This was my heart break and little did I know this was just a few weeks before his health would get worse and he passed in my arms. I dearly miss King and looking back I made so many mistakes with him. Mind you not knowingly but mistakes none the less. I am just so blessed to have had such a smart and devoted dog. While I made those mistakes; I hope that I have learned from those mistakes and hopefully I will make none with Blitz.

 

This is our Myspace Photo, from June 2009; I don't know who had more facial hair or hated shaving more...... lol

 

 

Edited July 14, 2011 by guitarest

[guitarest]

Wow vet bills are just going through the roof. They know people will do almost anything to keep their pet healthy. Hope Ollie will be home soon in the comfort of his family!! I'll keep praying for him.

 

Cindy

 

They sure are, as is the price of decent food for our babies. I spend easily 300.00 a month on food and treats for Blitz and his two brothers. His two brothers are dogs that my children left behind when they moved out as adults. So I guess its not so bad for food and treats. Then the monthly flea and heart worm; I just received a love note from my vet reminding that Sarge and Willie's shots are due in June.

 

The AKC offers a HMO type insurance for Blitz and I have looked into it yet have not decided if I am going to do this quite yet. Monthly premiums yet its very limiting as to what it covers and just as restrictive as real HMO's.

 

Blitz came from outside the normal trained service dog loop and with that said I was wondering if the others here have papers on their dogs? My personal belief is it really doesn't matter if a dog is AKC or not although there are those who feel different. So the service dogs that come from CCI or other organizations do they also come with breed documents like the AKC paperwork? Is there a stipulation on breeding your dogs? or are they fixed? I saw a report on CNN over a year ago about a woman who had cloned her dog who was fixed by the ASPCA when she adopted her pup. She looked into it and they were actually able to clone her pup. A slight ironic twist on this story was she was a fugitive and when this proceedure was made public the men in black suits showed up and she went to jail. I am unsure what happened after that.

[wizard-of-roz]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEXLER!!!!!!!!! Wex is 4 today so this morning him and I went on a shopping spree at Petco.

 

John is finally alittle bit better today. The meds they gave him for the thrush were swish and spit, well come to find out, it was suppose to be swish and swallow :mad: That just put him back a few days. The Eye and Throat doctor came in and scoped his throat today. The thrush is all the way down the throat so all this time no meds were getting to it. He still cannot eat much. For dinner he had a cup of custard. They want him to drink thickened water :eek: GAG!!! So he is not drinking anything. Today they let him have some ice chips and a spoonful of water, wow thats really going to hydrate him. Yesterday he sent me home cuz he was so miserable, today he was awesome. They gave him a shower which was a big help and now that the meds are finally getting in there he is improving. :D If he didn't have the thrush he would have been eating and getting strength to work out and come home. Now I have no idea how long he will be there cuz we are like a week behind. Well it's 830 and my dinner just came, and I'm starving. Talk soon.

 

Cindy & Wex

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ~ WEXLER !!!!!!

Please give John our very best wishes. Poor guy, he's going to be a stick by the time he gets out of re-hab.